High speed tramper and bat feeding mechanism



March 13, 1962 E. H. BROOKS 3,024,721

HIGH SPEED TRAMPER AND BAT FEEDING MECHANISM Filed Dec. 28, 1959 5Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG-l I28 INVENTOR.

EUGENE H. BROOKS ATTORNEYS March 13, 1962 E. H. BROOKS 3,024,721

HIGH SPEED TRAMPER AND BAT FEEDING MECHANISM Filed Dec. 28, 1959 5Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. EUGENE H. BROOKS BYMW ATTORNEYS March 13, 1962E. H. BROOKS 3,024,721

HIGH SPEED TRAMPER AND BAT FEEDING MECHANISM 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec.28, 1959 INVENTOR.

EUGENE H. BROOKS BY 774; mz

ATTORNEYS HIGH SPEED TRAMPER AND BAT FEEDING MECHANISM March 13, 1962 E.H. BROOKS 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Dec.

*i z INVENTOR.

zussue u. BROOKS BY f7 ATTORNEYS March l3, 1962 E. H. BROOKS 3,024,721

HIGH SPEED TRAMPER AND BAT FEEDING MECHANISM Filed Dec. 28, 1959 v 5Sheets-Sheet 5 IN V EN TOR. EUGENE H. BROOKS 3 ATTORNEYS Iliifi3,024,721 Patented Mar. 13,

3,024,721 HIGH SPEED TRAMPER AND BAT FEEDING MECHANISM Eugene H. Brooks,Birmingham, Ala., assignor to Continental Gin Company, Birmingham, Ala,a corporation of Delaware Filed Dec. 28, 1959, Ser. No. 862,358 9Claims. (Cl. 100-97) This invention relates to the handling of lintcotton and is particularly concerned with a method and apparatus forpressing lint cotton into bales. This invention thus relates to fiberpresses and to mechanisms for supplying lint to the presses. Suchdevices are known in the art as trampers and are especially utilized forthe baling of lint cotton.

In the baling of lint cotton it i important to attain a certain densityin the finished bale and to make the bales up as rapidly as possible.Attaining the proper density in bales requires the elimination of airfrom the cotton by pressing it tightly during the baling operation.Normally a great deal of air is entrained in the lint being baled andfor this reason many times the baling press portion of the apparatus hasan extremely long stroke in order to obtain the desired degree ofcompacting of the fibers in the bale.

In some devices according to the prior art air is employed for movingthe cotton fibers into the press box but on account of the resilientnature of such fibers they tend to expand and absorb a large amount ofair thus requiring an elongated stroke of the plunger to accomplish thebalmg.

In other cases revolving sweepers have been employed to push the lintcotton into the press box but this has the disadvantage of destroyingthe character of the bat that is being removed from the condenser anddelivered to the press box and the result is to whip the lint into aloose mass containing a great deal of air and at the same time twistingand kinking the fibers which causes difiiculty when the cotton isremoved from the bale at the mills.

It will be appreciated from the foregoing that it is desirable in thebaling of textile fibers for the bales to be uniform and for the fibersto be so compacted within the bale that they can be removed therefromreadily with the fibers being smooth and unkinked and being free oftangles or knots and, in short, to be in about the same condition aswhen they were removed from the condenser. Further, it is of advantagein baling of textile fibers for the fibers to be disposed in the bale inthe form of a plurality of relatively thin layers or bats with the fiberin each bat being in the smooth kink and knot free condition as referredto above.

Heretofore in order to obtain such baling, the press boxes have tendedto be extremely long so that the fibers could be introduced thereinwithout being physically abused so that all of the other structure inconnection with the mechanism has tended to be extremely large. Also dueto the necessity of handling the lint cotton in such a manner as toavoid abuse thereof, elaborate timing and delay mechanisms have beenutilized so as to increase the time available for the cotton to bedelivered to the press box. Such devices have not only been bulky,expensive and troublesome, but have not been efiective to anysubstantial degree.

Having the foregoing in mind, it is a primary object of the presentinvention to provide an improved tramping mechanism which will producesuperior bales of fibers.

Another object of this invention is to providean arrangement for balinglint cotton in which the mechanism is relatively small.

A still further object of this invention is the provision of a methodand apparatus for baling cotton or similar fibers in which the cottonbeing baled is maintained substantially air free up until the time it isdelivered to the press box thus reducing the length of stroke requiredon the baling plunger.

A particular object of this invention is the provision of a method andapparatus for supplying bats of lint of a predetermined size to theproper position in the press box for baling so the cotton bale is madeup of a plurality of superimposed bats or layers.

It is also an object of this invention to deliver the sized batsaccording to the preceding objective with the bats substantiallyde-aired thereby facilitating the baling operation.

A further objective of this invention is the provision of a method andapparatus for compacting lint cotton or like fibers into bales in whichthe speed of the apparatus can be increased greatly over speeds thathave been obtainable heretofore and without increasing the powerrequirements.

Still another object of this invention is the provision of anarrangement in a press for baling lint cotton and the like, in which thedesired bat character of the cotton is retained during the time that thebaling is interrupted to remove a completed bale and bring an empty boxinto position.

It is still another object of this invention to provide bales of lintcotton and the like in which the bales are made up of individualsuperimposed bats of substantially the same size and thickness wherebythe lint cotton can accurately be blended when the bales are broken openat the mill, such blending being a customary practice.

These and other objects and advantages will become more apparent uponreference to the drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view showing a tramping mechanism constructedaccording to my invention;

FIGURE 2 is a view looking in from the left side of FIGURE 1 with thestructure partly in section and showing the relationship of variousportions of the apparatus;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary view drawn at enlarged scale showing theapparatus in section;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary view drawn at enlarged scale showing the feedrollers that deliver the bats toward the feed box of the baling section;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view indicated by line 55 on FIGURE 3 showingthe arrangement for severing the supply of lint cotton into bats of thedesired length;

FIGURE 6 is a view looking in from the left side of FIGURE 5 showing themechanism which operates the devices for forming the bats of cotton;

FIGURE 7 is a view similar to FIGURE 6 but shows the mechanism in theact of forming the bat;

FIGURE 8 is a sectional view indicated by line 8--8 on FIGURE 5 showingthe cam and roller arrangement for actuating the lower set of pins ofthe bat forming mechanism;

FIGURE 9 is a fragmentary view showing the variable speed drive to thefeed rolls of FIGURE 4 by means of which the bats to be delivered to thebaling chamber for baling therein are advanced at high speed when thebaling head is retracted;

FIGURE 10 is a more or less diagrammatic view showing the manner inwhich the accumulator forming a part of the mechanism operates toaccumulate the cotton dclivered by the condenser during periods when thebaling chamber is being changed so that the bat character of the cottonis not destroyed during this period;

FIGURE 11 is a view similar to FIGUREZ but drawn from the opposite sideof the machine showing other portions of the drive to the various partsof the mechamsm;

FIGURE 12 is a fragmentary view showing the construction of a reversingmechanism which is included in the drive train to the accumulator; and

FIGURES l3 and 14 show arrangements for resiliently urging the feedrolls toward each other.

Referring to the drawings somewhat more in detail, the structure of thepresent invention, as will be seen on reference to FIGURES 1, 2, and 3comprises a station which supplies a bat 12 of cotton to a feedingstation 14 which delivers the bat downwardly and through a bat severingstation 16 to a baling or tramping station 18 wherein the severed batsare compacted into bales.

Intermediate the stations 10 and 14 is an accumulator station 20 inwhich the bat being delivered is accumulated during periods that theoperation of the baling step is suspended to permit an empty chamber tobe moved into position. Station 10 is in the form of a condenser andtherein is a foraminous drum 22 that collects lint cotton in a wellknown manner and forms it into a bat and which bat is removed from thedrum by the doffing rolls 24.

From the dofling rolls the bat passes between a plurality of feedrollers comprising the lower feed rollers 26 and the upper feed rollers28 which are driven in synchronism so as to advance the bat downwardlyalong the inclined path defined by the feed rollers toward the batsevering station. A sprocket and chain drive, to be describedhereinafter, is employed for driving the shafts of one of the sets ofrollers, for example, the lower set of feed rollers; while the upper setof feed rollers are driven from the lower set of feed rollers as by thegears 30 fixed to the shafts of the sets of rollers.

The bat is advanced and compressed by the feed rollers and since the batwill vary somewhat in thickness, depending on various variables in thesystem leading to the feed rollers, it is preferable for the upper feedrollers to be resiliently supported relative to the lower feed rollersso that the proper pressure can be maintained on the bat and also so therollers will separate slightly for a thicker bat passing therebetween.The upper rollers, for example, could be spring biased toward the lowerrollers, or the shafts of the upper rollers could be mounted inresilient bearings such as rubber. In cases where the thickness of thebat could be depended upon to fall between relatively closepredetermined limits, such resilient support of the rollers relative toeach other could be eliminated.

FIGURES l3 and 14 show arrangements for urging the feed rolls towardeach other. In FIGURE 13, the shaft 31 of the upper feed roll 30illustrated is supported in bearings 33 (only one being illustrated),which are supported in resilient rubber blocks 35. In FIGURE 14, aspring 37 acts on the bearing 39 to urge the upper feed roll toward thelower feed roll.

The accumulator station 20 comprises a plurality of rollers 32 arrangedin an arcuate path and reversibly driven. Between two of the rollers 32there is a conveyor belt 34. Adjacent the one of rollers 32 Which ispositioned adjacent the bat 12 is still another reversible roller 36.The arrangement is such that when roller 32 adjacent the bat of cottonis rotating counterclockwise, the bat is fed downwardly between the feedrollers 26 and 28 but when it is desired to interrupt the feeding of thebat, the rollers 32 are caused to rotate in a clockwise direction andthis causes the bat to be delivered into the accumulator station androlled up therein as indicated by the dot-dash lines 38. When it isdesired to resume delivery of the bat to the rollers, rollers 32 areagain reversed so as to rotate in a counterclockwise direction whilesimultaneously roller 36 is also reversed so as to run in a clockwisedirection and the bat then commences to move downwardly between the feedrollers 26 and 28, passing therebetween in a doubled condition until theaccumulated length of the bat is discharged from the accumulator. Inthis manner the condenser station at 10 can operate continuously thuspreventing any interruption in the ginning and cleaningoperationsproceeding this station while at the same time permitting a completedbale to be removed and an empty baling chamber moved into position.

At the lower end of the inclined line of feed rollers there is a member39 forming a slide over which the bat of cotton passes. This slide,similarly to the feed rollers and accumulator rollers above referred tois disposed between the spaced side plates 40 of the mechanism. Theslide is of about the same width as the press box 42 to which the bat isto be delivered and means are provided for severing or cutting olf orseparating the bat into short bat lengths which will be slightly shorterthan the front to back dimension of the press box.

The mechanism for forming the bat lengths consists of a set of tines 44carried on a block 45 disposed beneath slide member 39 with there beingapertures 46 in the sheet for receiving the tines. Angle members 48attached to the underside of slide member 39 provide guide means forguiding block 45 as it reciprocates to carry the tines 44 through theapertures to intersect the bat and to withdraw the tines from theapertures so that the bat will pass on over the slide member 39.

The block 45 has attached to spaced points therealong the actuatormembers 50 which at their lower ends are bifurcated to embrace the camshaft 52. The actuator members 50 are also bifurcated in the otherdirection and have supported between the legs thereof rollers 54 thatengage cams 56 on shaft 52. It will be evident that rotation of shaft 52will cause the tines 44 periodically to project through the apertures 46and interrupt the movement of the bat through the feed rollers, and toretract downwardly to permit the bat again to advance across the slidemember 39. Positioned above the slide member 39 is another transverselyextending bar member 57 which has adjustably attached thereto as byscrew 58, a plate 60 having depending therefrom a plurality of spacedtines 62 which are staggered transversely of the mechanism relative tothe tines 44 previously referred to.

Bar member 57 is supported by tension springs 63 attached between thebar member and a stationary part of the machine frame above the barmember. A link 64 pivotally connected with the bar member is alsopivoted to the upper end of an arm 66 which is pivoted on the machineframe at 68 and which arm carlies at its lower end a roller or camfollower 70 that engages a cam 72 attached to the end of cam shaft 52. Aspring 73 connected between the machine frame and an upper part of arm66 maintains roller 70 in engagement with cam 72.

It will be evident that as cam shaft 52 rotates arm 66 will oscillateabout its pivotal support and cause bar member 57 and the tines 62carried thereby also to oscillate.

The bar member 57 also has connected thereto at its opposite ends, arms74 which extend downwardly to shaft 52 and which are apertured as at 76for receiving the shaft. Apertures 76 are preferably of a size closelyto embrace hubs 78 on cams 80 carried on cam shaft 52 and which cams 80cooperate with rollers or cam followers 82 attached to the lower ends ofarms 74.

It will be evident that rotation of shaft 52 will cause co-actionbetween earns 80 and followers 82 which will bring about verticalreciprocating movement of the bar member 57 and the tines thereon.

The relationship of the earns 72 and 80 is such that as the cam shaft 52rotates, the bar member 57 will first move downwardly to cause the tinesto engage the hat of cotton and then the bar member 57 and tines 62 willmove rearwardly toward the baling station and, at this time, cam 52 haslifted tines 44 into engagement with the hat of cotton leftwardly oftines 62 so that the described movement of tines 62 will cause the batto be severed at the point of engagement of the tines with the bat. Thetiming of the aforementioned cams is such that the bat lengths of about26" or 27 will be provided, this size being about the size necessary toform a layer in the bale being made in the baling station.

The movement of the tines 62 in severing the shorter bat length from theelongated bat being fed by the feed rollers also delivers the bat lengthto the bight of a group of feed rollers generally indicated at 84. Thesefeed rollers, which may be referred to as accelerator rollers, differfrom the rollers previously described in that they are adapted for beingdriven at variable speeds. The purpose of this is to advance the severedbat length very quickly at a predetermined time during its travel sothat it can quickly be delivered to the baling position. To this end therollers 84, as will be seen in FIGURE 4 are preferably lightweight andhollow and are advantageously fluted better to control and feed the batlengths.

For driving the rollers 34, the lower two thereof are preferablyinterconnected by a chain drive 86 with one the upper rollers in turnbeing driven by a chain 88 from a sprocket 91 The rollers are preferablydriven in synchronism by being geared to the lower rollers on the sideof the machine from that seen in FIGURE 9.

The cut-oif bat length, indicated at 92 in FIGURES 3 and 9, upon beingadvanced by the rollers 84 is received on a reciprocating tray or table94. This table is reciprocably supported as by the roller means 96carried in the frame and has pivotally attached to one end thereof adrag link 98 which is, in turn, pivotally connected with one end of arotary arm 108 carried on a shaft 102. As the shaft rotates the arm 100rotates and this causes reciprocation of the table. In its advancedposition the table positions the cut-ofi bat length 92 directly over thebaling chamber 42 and when the table retracts the bat length is strippedoff from the table by a stripper member 104 so that the bat length willdrop into the baling chamber. The arm 111i) rotates counterclockwise asit is viewed in FIGURE 3 and this causes the table to be withdrawnrapidly from its advanced position and this assists in stripping thecut-off bat length from the bale.

The baling unit of the present invention comprises a pair of balingchambers that can be rotated into baling position so that when one isbeing filled the bale in the other can be completed and removed.

As will be seen in FIGURE 1 there is a base member 106 and extendingupwardly therefrom is a column 108 supported at its upper end by amember 110 which also forms the bed of a baling press. This columnprovides a rotatable support for a frame 112 which carries the balingchambers 42. In the case of the baling chamber that is in position forreceiving the bat lengths above referred to, there is a ram 114extending into the baling chamber from beneath and carrying at its upperend a platen 116.

The platen 116 supportingly engages a follower block member 118 havingbattens 128 extending laterally thereacross and attached thereto whichsupport the bat lengths 92 delivered thereto.

As will be seen hereinafter the follower block 118 is supported in itslowermost position by angle members 122 on the inside of the balingchamber so that after the required number of bat lengths have beendelivered to the chamber, the supporting frame 112 can be rotated tocarry the filled baling chamber over into baling position whiledelivering an empty baling chamber into position to receive anothersupply of bat lengths 92.

According to well known practices the ram 114- of the hydraulic motorreferred to above yields as the bat lengths 92 are pressed downwardly inthe chamber against a pressure developed by releasing fluid from thecylinder of the motor through a release valve.

The tramping mechanism that compacts the bats in the baling chambercomprises a frame that includes the side members 124 and 126 which aresupported on the members 110 and 106. Laterally extending beams 128extend between the upper ends of members 124 and 126 forming a headportion for the tramping mechanism. Bearing blocks 130 suspended fromthe beams 128 rotatably support a shaft 132 driven by a chain 134 thatengages a sprocket 136 on the shaft. The outer ends of shaft 132 carrycounterweighted crank arms 138 which have attached thereto theconnecting rods 140 which at their lower ends are interconnected by aspreader member 142. A shaft 144 is journaled in the extreme lower endsof connecting rods 140 and has fixed thereto a pair of spaced channels146. Extending laterally beneath channels 146 are other channel members148 having attached to their undersides the battens 150 which providethe means for directly engaging the bat of cotton being tramped. Thesebattens, together with those referred to in connection with the followerblock 118, provide means whereby air can readily escape from cotton inthe baling chamber as it is tramped.

Reference to FIGURE 3 will show that the tramping structure abovedescribed has arms 152 attached to the channel members 146 and extendingrearwardly therefrom to pivot points 154 provided on support members 156which are fixed to the tramper frame. The arrangement is such that thetramper platen or upper block takes an arcuate movement about the pivotaxis defined by the pivots 154 as shaft 132 is driven in rotation. Themovement of the platen is timed with the bat feeding and bat separatingand table reciprocating mechanism so that the tramping of the cottonfollows immediately the depositing of a bat length in the balingchamber.

The correlation of the various drives is best illustrated in FIGURE 11taken in connection with FIGURES 2, 3 and 6 thru 9. In these figures,and with particular reference to FIGURE 11, a motor M may be providedattached to shaft 158 extending laterally of the machine generallybeneath the accumulator and journaled in suitable bearings that may besupported on the side plates 40 of the mechanism. This shaft isconnected by chain and sprocket drive means 160 with a shaft 162 whichcarries one of a set of eccentric or elliptical gears 164, the other ofwhich is mounted on shaft 186 to which is attached sprocket 90 that isconnected for driving the accelerator rollers.

The shaft 158 also has a sprocket thereon that drives the chain 134which, as described previously, drives the tramping mechanism.

A still further chain drive, indicated by chain 168, drives a sprocketon a transverse shaft 170. This transverse shaft 17 t) has anothersprocket thereon which drives through a chain 172 to a sprocket 174 onshaft 102, rotation of which, as mentioned previously causesreciprocation of table 94.

The aforementioned shaft also has a sprocket thereon that drives througha chain 176 into a sprocket 178 on cam shaft 52 previously referred towhich operates the bat severing mechanism.

Shaft 170 may also be availed of for driving lower feed rollers 26 as bythe chain drive 188, FIGURE 11, the follower lower feed rollers beinggeared to the upper feed rollers 28 as previously described.

The drive to the rolls in the accumulator and including the drive to theconveyor belt is preferably taken from the same source of power thatdrives the condenser drum 22 since it is desirable for the accumulatorto continue to operate even when the feeding and tramping mechanism isshut down. To this end, there is a chain 198 driving one of the doffingrolls 24, the other roll 24 being geared by geaning 196 thereto anddriving a chain 182 which, in turn, drives the input member of areversing mechanism generally indicated at 184 in FIGURE 11 and showndiagrammatically in section in FIGURE 12. The output of the reversingmechanism is connected by chain 186 with a first sprocket 188 attachedto a reversible roll 36 which is located at the entrance of theaccumulator.

This chain also engages sprocket 192 which is attached to the one of therolls 32 that is associated with the conveyor belt 34. This lastmentioned roll is geared to the accumulator rolls by the gearinggenerally indicated at 194 in FIGURE 2.

This gearing provides for all of the rolls 32 and the belt 34 to rotatein the same direction while the reversing mechanism provides means forreversing the direction of rotation of the rolls and belt.

Since it is desired for the accumulator mechanism to be reversiblydriven, the reversing drive 184 is provided which is illustrated inFIGURE 12. In FIGURE 12. it will be noted that chain 182 drives asprocket 200 fixed to a shaft 202 on which there is rotatable a firstbevel gear 204. This gear meshes with an idler bevel gear 206 which inturn meshes With still another bevel gear 208 rotatable on shaft 202 butfixed to sprocket 210 about which chain 186 passes. The bevel gears 204and 208 are provided with clutch elements 212 engageable bycorresponding clutch elements on a reciprocating clutch member 214 whichis slidably keyed, as by key 216, to shaft 202.

An arm 218 associated with the clutch member is normally urged by aspring 220 to engage the clutch member with gear 208 in which case thegear 208 runs the same direction as shaft 202. The drive to theaccumulator can be reversed by energization of solenoid 222 which willengage clutch member 214 with gear 204 and, in which case, gear 208 willbe driven in a direction opposite to shaft 202. By this arrangement theaccumulator drive can be reversed at any time for storing up the bat ofcotton, and can then again be reversed for delivering the bat to thefeed rolls and thence to the tramping mechanism.

In operation, assuming the mechanism to be in about its FIGURE 3position, the bat 12 will be continuously delivered downwardly throughthe feed rollers and shorter bat lengths will be separated therefrom atthe bat separating station and these shorter lengths will be deliveredby the accumulator rollers to the table or pan 94 which will drop thebats 92 into the baling chamber whereupon they are tramped by thetramping mechanism so as to compact the bats and compress air therefrom.When the baling chamber is filled to the desired degree the accumulatordrive is reversed so that the bat 12 will commence to be accumulatedtherein. In order to interrupt the operation of the tramping and feedingmechanism during the time that the baling chamber is being changed,there may be provided a clutch 250 located between drive motor M and oneof the shafts of the driven mechanism, for example, shaft 158 so thatthis clutch can be disengaged when the tramping mechanism is in anelevated position and the operation of the tramping mechanism and thefeed mechanism will be interrupted until the baling chamber is changedby rotating frame 112 to carry the filled baling chamber out of trampingposition and to move the empty baling chamber into tramping position.

When the new bale is in tramping position, the drive to the accumulatoris again reversed, the ram 114 is raised upwardly to its uppermostposition, clutch 250 is again closed, and delivery of bats 92 to thebaling chamber is again resumed.

The filled baling chamber is now in position over another ram 224 whichcan be utilized for the high pressure compacting of the bale before itis bound and pressed from the baling chamber.

From the foregoing it will be evident that the arrangement of theinvention is operable for extremely rapidly delivering at leastpartially de-aired bats of cotton of uniform length to a baling chamberwith the delivery of the bats to the chamber being accomplished in theshortest possible time whereby the maximum amount of time is availablefor compacting and de-airing the so delivered bats. The trampingmechanism does not have to wait on the delivery of the bats as would bethe case if the bats were delivered at the same linear speed as theoriginal bat is delivered from the condenser drum, but instead themaximum amount of time is available for the tramping mechanism tooperate.

Furthermore, if the bats are partially de-aired because of having beencompacted during their travel between the feed and accelerator rollers,a minimum amount of air remains in the bats to be expelled therefrom bythe tramping mechanism. Accordingly, highly emcient and extremely rapidbaling can be accomplished according to the present invention.

It has been mentioned before that the forming of the continuous batdelivered from the condenser drum 22 into short bats is of advantage inassisting in blending of the lint cotton when the bales are subsequentlybroken open and the cotton processed in the mill.

The provision of the accumulator permits the mechanism to operate with asubstantially continuous supply thereto so that the ginning and cleaningoperations preceding the baling operation carried out by the mechanismof the present invention need not be interrupted during the time thatthe baling chambers are being changed. This is of particular advantageduring the busy season when it is necessary to operate ginningestablishments at maximum capacity to take care of the supply of cottonbeing delivered thereto.

What I claim is:

1. In an apparatus for feeding and tramping lint cotton; feed rollsresiliently urged toward each other operable for feeding a hat of lintcotton of about the width of a baling chamber while simultaneouslyde-airing the bat, a severing station comprising a platform to which thebat is delivered by said feed rolls, means including tines operableperiodically to engage the bat on the platform adjacent the feed rollsto halt the bat, means including other tines also operable periodicallyto engage the bat in the same region at the same time and to sever thebat to divide the bat into short lengths about the length of a balingchamber, other feed means including other feed rolls resiliently urgedtoward each other operable for receiving the short lengths from thesevering station and for advancing them at accelerated speed to a balingchamber one at a time, and a reciprocating tramper operable for trampingthe short lengths in the chamber.

2. In an apparatus for feeding and tramping lint cotton; feed rollsresiliently urged toward each other operable for feeding a bat of lintcotton of about the width of a baling chamber while simultaneouslyde-airing the bat, a severing station comprising a platform to which thebat is delivered by said feed rolls, means including tines operableperiodically to engage the bat on the platform adjacent the feed rollsto halt the bat, means including other tines also operable periodicallyto engage the bat in the same region at the same time and to sever thebat to divide the bat into short lengths about the length of a balingchamber, other feed means including other feed rolls resiliently urgedtoward each other operable for receiving the short lengths from thesevering station and for advancing them at accelerated speed to a balingchamber one at a time, and a reciprocating tramper operable for trampingthe short lengths in the chamber, said other feed means furtherincluding a reciprocating tray movable to and from a position above saidchamber timed so as to advance over the chamber when a short length isfed thereto so as to support the said short length and retractable priorto the advance of said tramper, there being a stripper member to preventthe short length from retracting with the tray.

3. In an apparatus for feeding and tramping cotton fibers; a pluralityof pairs of feed rolls resiliently urged toward each other and arrangedin an inclined path operable for feeding and de-airing a bat of cottonfibers; an inclined table positioned to receive the bat fed by therolls, a first member extending transversely of the table at the feedroll end having tines to engage and halt the bat and reciprocable towardand away from bat engaging position, a second member parallel with thefirst member also having tines to engage the bat closely adjacent thefirst tines reciprocable toward and away from bat engaging position andmovable longitudinally of the table when in bat engaging position, saidmembers being reciprocable in timed relation to said feed rolls so asperiodically to engage and halt said bat and sever the bat, feed rollmeans positioned to receive the severed short lengths of the hat, ahorizontal tray reciprocable from beneath said feed roll means to aposition ahead of the feed roll means and over the baling chamber, atramper reciprocable into the baling chamber, means interconnecting thetramper and tray so the tray retracts when the tramper advances, meansinterconnecting said feed roll means with the tray for acceleratedrotation of the feed roll means when the tray is advanced and meansconnecting the feed roll means to said members for operation in timedrelation thereto.

4. An apparatus for advancing cotton fiber from a condenser drum to abaling chamber and tramping it therein comprising; a frame, a trampermember in the frame reciprocable into the upper end of a baling chamber,a feed tray reciprocable horizontally over the top of the chamberconnected with the tramper so as to retract when the tramper advancesand to advance when the tramper retracts, feed roll means for deliveringshort bats of cotton fiber to the tray when the tray is advanced, saidfeed roll means being connected with the tray via drive means thatproduces accelerated speed of the feed roll means when the tray isadvanced to receive a bat and reduced speed thereof when the tray isretracted and the tramper is advanced, and means operable to receive acontinuous hat of cotton from a condenser drum and to advance and de-airthe bat and to sever the continuous bat into short bats.

5. An apparatus for advancing cotton fiber from a condenser drum to abaling chamber and tramping it therein comprising; a frame, a trampermember in the frame reciprocable into the upper end of a baling chamber,a feed tray reciprocable horizontally over the top of the chamberconnected with the tramper so as to retract When the tramper advancesand to advance when the tramper retracts, feed roll means for deliveringshort bats of cotton fiber to the tray when the tray is advanced, saidfeed roll means being connected with the tray via drive means thatproduces accelerated speed of the feed roll means when the tray isadvanced to receive a bat and reduced speed thereof when the tray isretracted and the tramper is advanced, a plurality of pairs of feedrolls operable to receive a bat from a condenser drum and advance ittoward said feed roll means, and severing means between the feed rollsand feed roll means operable periodically to engage and halt said batand to sever the bat at the point of engagement to provide the saidshort bats, said severing means delivering the short bats directly tosaid feed roll means, and said severing means and feed rolls beingoperated in timed relation to said feed tray and tramper.

6. In a bat feeding and severing mechanism; a plurality of pairs of feedrolls resiliently urged toward each other and driven in unison operableto receive a bat and advance it while simultaneously at least partiallyde-airing the bat, an inclined platform across which the bat is fed bythe feed rolls, a first set of tines adjacent the feed roll end of theplatform driven in timed relation to the feed rolls to engage the bat atpredetermined intervals and halt the hat, a second set of tinesstaggered relative to the first set driven together with the first setof tines to engage the bat adjacent the point of engagement thereof bythe first set of tines and at the same time, and also driven to movelongitudinally of the bat While both sets of tines are engaged therewithto sever the bat.

7. In a bat feeding and severing mechanism, a plurality of pairs of feedrolls resiliently urged toward each other and driven in unison operableto receive a hat of cotton fibers and to advance the bat whilesimultaneously at least partially de-airing the bat, an inclinedplatform across which the bat is fed by the feed rolls, a first memberhaving a set of tines adjacent the feed roll end of the platform andtherebeneath driven in timed relation to the feed rolls to move upwardlyand bring the tines thereof into engagement with the bat to halt the batat predetermined intervals, a second member and also having tinesthereon above the platform driven together with the first member to movedownwardly and bring the tines thereof into engagement with the bat atabout the same time the first set of tines engage the bat and in aboutthe same region, and means for moving said second member longitudinallyof the bat while both sets of tines are engaged therewith to sever thebat into predetermined lengths.

8. In a bat feeding and severing mechanism, a plurality of pairs of feedrolls resiliently urged toward each other and driven in unison operableto receive a hat of cotton fibers and to advance the bat whilesimultaneously at least partially de-airing the bat, an inclinedplatform across which the bat is fed by the feed rolls, a first memberhaving a set of tines adjacent the feed roll end of the platform andtherebeneath driven in timed relation to the feed rolls to move upwardlyand bring the tines thereof into engagement with the bat to halt the batat predetermined intervals, a second member and also having tinesthereon above the platform driven together with the first member to movedownwardly and bring the I tines thereof into engagement with the bat atabout the same time the first set of tines engage the bat and in aboutthe same region, and means for moving said second member longitudinallyof the bat while both sets of tines are engaged therewith to sever thebat into predetermined lengths, the means for driving said first andsecond members comprising a cam shaft and earns thereon operativelyengaging said members.

9. An apparatus for receiving a bat of cotton fibers from a continuouslyrotating condenser drum and for advancing the bat to a baling chambercomprising; a plurality of pairs of feed roll means arranged in a rowand operable for receiving the bat from the drum at one end of the rowand for advancing it toward the baling chamber, severing station meansat the other end of the row operable for receiving the bat from the feedrolls and for severing the bat into short lengths during its traveltoward the baling chamber, accelerating feed roll means operable forreceiving the short lengths and advancing them at accelerated speed tothe baling chamber, means for interrupting the operation of the feedroll means and severing means when the baling chamber is filled topermit the baling chamber to be replaced by another, accumulator meanslocated between the condenser drum and the feed rolls operable forreceiving and accumulating the bat from the condenser drum While theoperation of the feed roll means and severing means is interrupted, saidaccumulator means comprising a plurality of reversibly driven rollsconfining a cavity for receiving the bat, and reversibly driven means atthe inlet of the accumulator operable in one driven direction to divertthe bat from the condenser drum into the accumulator and in the otherdriven direction to divert the bat from the condenser drum into the feedrolls while simultaneously discharging from the accumulator any cottonfibers therein.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS252,922 Bacon Jan. 31, 1882 429,640 Rembert June 10, 1890 840,534 WebbJan. 8, 1907 1,340,964 Ligon May 25, 1920 1,437,921 Stobie Dec. 5, 19221,881,774 Mackenzie Oct. 11, 1932 2,059,229 Gregg Nov. 3, 1936

